My decision to start Tysabri 3 of 5

And then this happened….

Board at the hospital

Tough break

lovely foley bag w/ blood because I tried to be too mobile

I was trying to continue strengthening my legs (pushing the time that I was out of the wheelchair) and I lost my balance AGAIN, and fell AGAIN. I was home alone and of course I didn’t have my cell phone with me. I tried to push myself up and instantly knew that I had broken my wrist. By the time I was able to get to a phone to call for help, I had peed on myself and my wrist had doubled in size. ARGH!

MS and Modesty don’t mix

I called a neighbor who helped me get cleaned up and drove me to the hospital, where they determined that my wrist was indeed broken and they would need to do surgery.

Over the next few days, I had surgery and began to have ANOTHER flare up. (maybe because of the stress of surgery?) I don’t know for sure, but back in the hospital I went. This is when I learned the importance of having a TEAM of doctors that communicate with each other. My new neurologist was not on staff at the local hospital, and I was back to the same doctors that I feel just throw steroids at everything.

While laying in the hospital, I made decision to give Tysabri a try. MS was winning the battle. I wasn’t LIVING. To be honest, a part of me didn’t want to live anymore. I am not saying I was suicidal, though I have been there before, but if this is what my life was going to be, I didn’t want it. When I got out of the hospital I again went to see “the wizard” in Chicago, to start the process of being approved for Tysabri.

Some of the most important things I learned while making my decision to switch to Tysabri, and about living with a chronic illness in general are:

“Dr. Google” is a scary ass monster

There is no shortage of information regarding MS available online (in fact there is almost too much)

While most have good intentions, most people on Facebook and other areas of the internet (myself included) are not doctors, and since their symptoms of MS and their lifestyles are probably different than yours, so is the best course of treatment for them.

Doctors are just “practicing” medicine…they don’t know everything. Unfortunately, some of them are paid in some way to promote drug therapies.

It is so important that you have an unbiased friend. You need to have someone that you can share your fears with. If you don’t have a friend that fits that description, there is NOTHING wrong with seeing a counselor.

In addition to spending countless hours on google, I found a group on Facebook for people that were taking tysabri, and made a new best friend in the process. I could probably write an entire website on our friendship and bond over the years, but I have to save that for another time.

I am not endorsing Tysabri in any way. I am only sharing the experiences I had, and what led to MY DECISION to begin Tysabri. In my next post, I will share some of the experiences that I have had while being on this medication. Thank you for following!